One type of ink-jet printer includes a carriage that is reciprocated back and forth across a sheet of paper that is advanced through the printer. The reciprocating carriage holds a pen very close to the paper. The pen is controlled by the printer for selectively ejecting ink drops from the pen while the pen is reciprocated or scanned across the paper, thereby to produce characters or an image on the paper.
The pen has a reservoir for holding a limited amount of ink. A relatively larger supply of ink is provided in a replaceable stationary container that is mounted to the printer. A tube may be connected between the supply container and the pen, thereby to conduct the flow of ink from the supply container to the pen for replenishing the pen reservoir as needed.
An efficient and easy-to-use printer will include mechanisms that permit rapid replacement of a depleted collapsible container without ink leakage from either the depleted cartridge or full cartridge that is used as a replacement.